Lama Chimed Rigdzin was born in the Nyag Rong Valley, in the Kham region of eastern Tibet and, starting at an early age, underwent traditional training in the Kathok Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
This training started with his uncle, Lama Agne, and later he took monk vows at Shiwa Lhathim Tashi Targye Ling Gonpa in his home area. As a teenager he traveled with Tulku L’hoga Rinpoche to the renowned Kathok College in Tibet where his training included the traditional five major subjects of Philosophy, Arts, Astrology, Medicine and Logic and a traditional 3 year retreat under the direction of his Uncle Khenpo Tsultrim Tharchin with Dzogchen teachings given by Khenpo Ngagchung.
After successfully completing this advanced training, and after extensive oral testing, he was granted the title of Lama from Kathok, the foremost teaching institution of the Nyingma Lineage.
After being granted the Lama Hat at Kathok, Lama Chimed traveled to Serthar/Larung Gar to receive Tsa Lung and Dzogchen training with Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and do retreat under him. Later, Lama Chimed did pilgrimages to many holy sites in Tibet and during these travels he went to Lama Ling in Kongpo/Pemakote where he was able to receive Tröma teachings from Semo Dechen Yudron, Dechen-La, the daughter of Dudjom Rinpoche, who many consider an emanation of Tröma.
There he received the complete Tröma cycle, including the profound teachings, from Dechen-la and her consort, Chonyid Rinpoche, and participated in a retreat they conducted.
Lama Chimed then relocated to Mindroling College in India where he spent many years studying and assisting at the college. Here he was able to receive many profound teachings and empowerments and this is elucidated in the reference letter from Minling Lodi Gyari Rinpoche. In the last few years of his time at Mindroling, Lama Chimed was able to travel around Taiwan with Minling Trichen Rinpoche to assist with his activities; later on Lama Chimed traveled alone to teach around Southeast Asia.
In January of 2002, Lama Chimed was living in Chatral Rinpoche’s monastery, in Nepal, when he accepted the invitation from Chagdud Rinpoche to come to Brazil to assist in teaching and artwork in the Chagdud Gonpa centers. Lama Chimed helped him for nine months in Khadro Ling, Tres Coroas/Rio Grande do Sul. Chagdud Rinpoche then requested Lama Chimed to do a six month retreat under his supervision in the lands of the future Chagdud Gonpa in Uruguay. The occasion for these instructions were the last hours that Lama Chimed spent with him, as it was during this retreat that Chagdud Rinpoche passed into parinirvana.
After successfully completing his retreat in Uruguay, Lama Chimed Rigdzin returned to Khadro Ling to give support in Chagdud Gonpa. In 2005, as his English was already good enough, he could continue teaching and supporting other centers in South America.
In December of 2008, soon after the consecration of the Guru Rinpoche Palace and Chagdud Rinpoche’s Stupa’s consecration in Dawa Drolma, Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais, Lama Chimed entered a six-month retreat in his home at Khadro Ling to fulfill a commitment to his Guru in Tibet, Khenpo Ngagchung, who then identified Visconde de Mauá (in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil) as a place that Lama Chimed’s activity would bring flourishment to the Dharma, holding the lineage of the monastery which is the Head of the Nyingma school: Kathog Gonpa.